Lookout

Monday, February 13, 2012

Home ownership and demolition.

Home ownership, the American Dream. We were a young and starry eyed couple when we purchased our first home in New Hampshire.

She was a 108 year old New Englander and we could not have been happier. She needed some TLC but we were young and ready to tackle whatever we could on whatever modest budget we could put together for each project. I didn't know much of tools at that point and I soon embarked on a tool collection that would make any DIY'er proud. We loved that house...

Our second house was brand new construction with lots of acreage. I loved this house. Notice, I didn't say that WE loved this house. The house was awesome and it allowed me to seal all my tools in boxes for a couple years. The downside, for my wife, was the house being in the middle of nowhere. I mean, this was witness protection program real estate at its finest. That's my kind of living however, the 30 minute one way drive to the grocery store started to get to my better half. Around the 2 year mark, I was promoted at work and we decided to move from NH back to our home state of CT as I was going to be doing tons of travel and with 2 kids under the age of 3, we moved back to were our families are located. I miss NH, to me, NH will always be home and I know we'll end up back there some day.

Our third house, well, let's just say we bought the neighborhood.

The previous owners did little to maintain the house and what they did do, they did in as cheaply and poorly as possible. In less than 5 years we've replaced 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, all the windows and doors and now we have moved into the basement. I am most excited to say that my participation in the basement project is limited solely to writing the checks. Sadly, we actually have to rip out the existing finished basement and start the project from the foundation up. Over the years, I've always taken great "after" photos however, I always forget to take pictures of the project before and during the work. So, please humor me over the next couple of weeks as I roll out the new and improved basement.